Wednesday, June 14, 2017

At least six people have been confirmed killed in a huge fire that ripped through a west London tower block, but police expect the death toll to rise.

Up to 600 people are believed to have been inside Grenfell Tower's 120 flats when the blaze tore through the 24-storey building in the early hours.

Twenty people are in critical care after 74 injured people were taken to hospital. But many are still missing after residents were left trapped on upper floors as flames rapidly ripped up the block after initially being told to stay in their homes.

Residents who escaped spoke of others trapped and screaming for help, with some throwing children from windows and others jumping from upper floors. Some were reported to have attempted to use bin bags as makeshift parachutes.

Pictures showed flames engulfing the block and a plume of smoke visible across the capital, while others showed desperate residents looking out of windows in the block.

In a sign of hope, survivors were still reportedly being pulled from the block nine hours after the blaze started.

As an investigation into the cause of the fire began, residents reported that fire alarms had not sounded and that they were told to "stay put" in their flats and "put a wet towel down by the door".

Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said: "There will be a great many questions over the coming days as to the cause of this tragedy and I want to reassure Londoners that we will get all the answers."

More than 250 firefighters were called to the block on the Lancaster West Estate, in north Kensington, at about 1am. Several firefighters also suffered minor injuries in the blaze.